Hello, everyone

I've got both the HIFI products bundle and the REX products bundle. I use ASP4 as the weather engine, RSF as the cloud texture and model, and the ASCA is for the cloud dynamic function. The question is that

1. REF&ASCA, Which one should I choose or they are all getting well compatible.

2. What're the differences between ASCA and Rex Environment Force

3. Can ASCA take textures from RSF to work or not

Thank you very much!

1. and 2. ASCA changes textures on the fly. REX Environment Force does that as well but it also changes shaders on the fly to make the environment look realistic depending on the prevailing weather conditions. The shader adjustment is the difference between the two. (Though for EF to change textures you need Sky Force but that won't be an issue since you own that). I use EF because I like the automatic shader adjustment and I like the REX cloud textures better, but that is obviously subjective. You can turn automatic cloud texture synchronization off within EF and it will only adjust shaders if you want to keep using ASCA textures.

3. ASCA uses its own textures and has nothing to do with REX.

 

Really enjoying ASCA in dynamic mode looks awesome at 1440p. I've used REX before but I'm a hifi guy I like the look better. I think it's a personal thing between the two products. 

I only use ASCA and ASP4 - no REX. ENVSHADE for shaders. I’m getting great results with it.

It all comes down to personal preference in the end. These days there appears to be some sort of competition of how many addons you can install that basically all do the same and just start conflicting with each other at some point. If you enjoy that, go for it. If like me you rather fly and enjoy that, then keep it simple and just fly...

On 7/14/2019 at 5:36 AM, threegreen said:

1. and 2. ASCA changes textures on the fly. REX Environment Force does that as well but it also changes shaders on the fly to make the environment look realistic depending on the prevailing weather conditions.

I currently use REX TDw/SC for static texture load and ASP4 wx engine and PTA. I fly all GA for 1.0 - 1.5 hr max flights. Most of the time the weather and required textures and shaders doesn't vary too much in that scenario so static load of textures has been fine and I like the TDw/SC texture set look.

I have SF & EF but uninstalled after many attempts to get a result I was happy with. EF just seems too hard and too unstable for my liking.  I'll try it again someday...

I currently use REX EF+SF only. I also have ASP4 but I stopped using it because I like to stay within the REX ecosystem and the cloud models are more robust and 'full' with REX SF wx engine. There are some drawbacks like high GPU usage in overcast conditions; but I've managed to get around it by disabling some EF features like the dense cirrus overcast layer, 3d/cirrus cloud morphing. And so far I am quite satisfied with the results. I can't wait for the upcoming weather force add-on.

I use Active Sky 16 with ASCA and select 'Global Automatic'

Ok .. it's only my personal preference but I think HiFi Simulations cloud textures look more realistic

Rex cloud textures look a tad 'cartoony'

 

Paul

On 7/15/2019 at 1:34 PM, bbuckley said:

I have SF & EF but uninstalled after many attempts to get a result I was happy with. EF just seems too hard and too unstable for my liking.  I'll try it again someday...

There have indeed been some issues with EF but after a round of updates it works fine for most.

The point of the automatic mode of EF really is to launch the application and then leave it alone doing its job. When I fly I do just that and it works fine. The manual tweaking mode can indeed be a bit overwhelming, just like PTA.

Edited July 16, 20196 yr by threegreen